


Click

by Harrukawa



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: First Kiss??, I just wish they interacted more, M/M, Oneshot, Reddie, Set directly after the scene at the arcade/park, Truth or Dare, kind of self indulgent, some cussing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 16:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20603597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harrukawa/pseuds/Harrukawa
Summary: Click,Click,Click.The sound of the clock in the hallway ticked on; endlessly moving forward, never ceasing.





	Click

Click,

Click,

Click. 

The sound of the clock in the hallway ticked on; endlessly moving forward, never ceasing. 

Never ceasing was something Richie had come to know. Never cease work, never cease the jokes, because the second you do, you're not able to stop the endless wave of terrifying thoughts and memories swarming around inside your head.

So, Richie paced. Continuing on, never ceasing.

He didn't know how he ended up here, pacing in time to the clicks of the clock in the hotel, but he _did_ know that he'd have to remember _him_—remember It— if he stopped, so he didn't. 

Click, 

Click,

Click.

Went Richie's shoes.

Cli—

He stumbled, suddenly seeing images of a statue coming to life— of _It_ floating, of people frozen— until he regained his footing and the clock ticked on. 

He closed his eyes, and though he was still moving, he caught flashes of the arcade from back then, of Henry, and—

Richie stopped, yet the clock ticked on. 

He backed up to the wall, and slumped to the floor. 

As soon as he did, another memory was supplied to him. 

The memory was dusty, dark, and smelled like dirt. 

The clubhouse.

All of the losers were sat in a circle, giggling madly, aside from Stanley. His cheeks were pink, and he was looking to the side in embarrassment. Mike and Bill looked apologetic, but everyone else wasn't bothering to stifle their laughter. 

Stanley took a deep breath, and the giggles quickly died down. "Alright— It's my turn," he said, voice dripping with annoyance, "Richie." 

All eyes went to him. 

Stanley's face was blank, yet something in his eyes made it seem like he _knew_. Fear began to creep up on Richie, all around him, from his stomach to the tips of his fingers. He was shaking, he could tell, so he crossed his arms to keep everyone from noticing. 

_Stanley knows, Stanley knows, Stanley knows._ A voice echoed in his head, in time to his quickening heartbeat. 

"Truth or dare?" Stanley had asked. 

Richie remembered this. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that'd stop the overwhelming urge to vomit. When he opened them again, he was back at the hotel, with the never ceasing clock. 

_Thumpthumpthump_, Richie's heart hammered, yet the clock still click, click, clicked steadily on. 

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, trying to get his heartbeat to match the ticking of the clock. He wasn't even aware of what he was doing until someone slumped down next to him, starling him back to reality. 

Richie knew who it was before he turned.

Eddie, seemingly his only stability, sat with his legs straight out in front of him, shoes slightly waving in time to the clock on the wall. He smelled like shit, his shirt was covered in black vomit or something, but Richie didn't have the energy to ask. 

"The fuck are you doing? I called your name, like, 3 times." Eddie sighed, but his expression softened when Richie didn't respond. "Did you get your artifact?" Eddie quietly asked. _Did you see It? _was the unspoken question, another one Richie didn't have the energy to ask. 

Instead, he asked the dumbest question he could think of. 

“Are you gay?" 

"I— wha.. uh— I don't—" Eddie fumbled after a beat of silence, but Richie kept going, words spilling out like vomit. He was powerless to stop it, a confession that had been on the tip of his tongue for 28 years, still lingering even when it had been forgotten. 

"I think I might be. Or was. I don't know. I think I had a crush on you when I was younger. I'm just telling you now before _It_ does, because he for sure knew. Like, I wasn't that obvious, was I?" Richie sardonically laughs, completely unaware of the weight of his words. 

Click,

Click,

Click. 

The clock ticked on, mockingly, in the background. It took Richie a few moments to realize what he had just done. 

He quickly looked to Eddie, poor Eddie, who was staring pointedly at his now stilled shoes. "You don't gave to re—" Richie started, but Eddie interrupted with a small and distant voice. Richie was quickly reminded that the changed man next to him was still the same child from all those years ago. 

"When did you know?" He asked, now staring directly into Richie's eyes. 

"Know what?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "That you liked me, dumbass." 

Richie looked away. Never in his life had he felt more uncomfortable, first, he admitted he was gay for the first time, and now he was telling one of his best friends why he had a crush on him all those years ago. Then again, this wouldn't be Derry if it were normal.

He sighed, leaning back to place his head on the wall. "I don't know." He said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh come on," Eddie scoffed, "I deserve this." 

“The fuck are you talking about?" 

“The fact that _you_ had a crush on _me_. I never thought I'd see the day." Eddie was smiling. 

“Don't flatter yourself, babe." Richie couldn't help the smile that spread across his own face; Eddie was joking with him like _normal_ and taking this _normally_. He added after a moment, "Fine. I'll tell you." 

Eddies soft laughter died down. Richie could feel his eyes on him, expectant, yet they only made this harder. 

"It was truth or dare." 

Richie was back at the clubhouse again, staring at Stanley. He obviously couldn't pick _truth_, Stanley definitely knew _something_, though he didn't know what it wa—

"Dare." He was saying before even finishing the thought. Some of his friends laughed. They probably mumbled something like, "you always pick dare," but he wasn't listening. He wanted his turn over with. 

Stanley opened his mouth to speak, but Beverly excitedly piped up. "Oh!" She said, "I dare you to kiss someone!" 

Richie's blood had run cold. He could barely hear what was going on; someone had nervously laughed, Stanley was mad at Beverly because it was _his_ turn to pick the dare, not _hers_ and— He'd never kissed _anyone_, and what if he had to..? 

“Fine," Beverly laughed, "You can pick who he kisses. That fair?" 

Stanley considered this for a moment, then slowly nodded. He was obviously uncomfortable, like he didn't want to actually do this. Yet he still did.

His eyes went from Ben, to Beverly, to Bill, to Mike.. 

And landed on Eddie's. Eddie, who had been awfully quiet since Beverly's words, who suddenly very much looked like he wanted to go home. 

Richie knew what was coming, yet was powerless to stop Stanley from saying, "Eddie." 

There was silence for a few moments. 

Suddenly, Eddie cried, "Do you know how much bacteria saliva carries? I could get sick and die! Who knows where Richie's been! There's no way I'm—"

"Well it's not _your_ dare, Eddie, it's Richie's." Mike was laughing, unaware of how bad this was getting. Why did nobody care that he was panicking right now? Why were they doing this to him? 

Suddenly all eyes were on him. They were waiting, expectantly looking for an answer. 

"What?" Richie asked, his voice sounding entirely too loud. Was he yelling? Could they tell he was about to have a breakdown over kissing a boy? 

"A-Are you g-going to do it?" Bill asked with a smile. 

Richie glanced at Eddie, who looked revolted.

Revolted. Eddie was revolted to kiss him. 

Why did it hurt so much? 

"I wanted to." Richie was saying now, shaking his head as if shaking away the memory. He didn’t want to see the rest; he’d already replayed it on countless sleepless nights. “Kiss you, I mean. I realized I really did want to kiss you. That's when I knew." 

Eddie was silent again. Richie wondered for a moment if he didn’t remember, that it wasn’t worth obsessing over for so long. 

Eventually, he said, "I always thought that was weird. You never chickened out of a dare, and especially one that you thought I didn't want? That was so not you. I mean, one time you actually ate a—"

"Thought?" Richie asked.

“Hm?"

"You said, 'a dare you _thought_ I didn't want.'" 

Eddie blinked, and after a moment he looked away, speaking in the same soft tone as before, "We're not kids anymore, Richie." After that, he slowly stood up, and walked up the stairs to his room. 

Richie didn't know what it meant. 

He wish he'd asked him, back then, but unfortunately the clock ticks on.


End file.
